


10 Nights in the 10th Kingdom

by Ultra



Category: 10th Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Babies, Co-workers, Dimension Travel, Drama & Romance, Dreams and Nightmares, Engagement, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Happy Ending, Love, Magic, Marriage, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Post-Canon, Pregnancy, Self Confidence Issues, Unexpected Visitors, Werewolf Mates, Werewolves, Wishes, Workplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-09
Updated: 2012-10-09
Packaged: 2019-06-13 01:37:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15353355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: Virginia is finally back home where she belongs, and now she has Wolf as her fiance, and a baby on the way. How will the couple deal with life in the 10th Kingdom? Getting jobs, an upcoming full moon, and all the symptoms of pregnancy. This is going to be fun!





	1. The First Night Back

They had been sitting on the bridge for a full half hour just looking out at the New York skyline. It was hard for Virginia to believe that she was home at last, and though she really hadn’t been gone all that long in relative terms, it felt like a life time given all that had happened. Her long-lost mother was finally at peace; her father was still in the 4th Kingdom, finding a place in the world that made him happy; and here sat Virginia herself, beside a man who wanted to marry her, and apparently with his baby growing inside her. It was insane, beyond insane, and just thinking about it made her laugh out loud.

“Did I miss a joke?” asked Wolf nervously, looking around for signs of anything his dreamy, creamy fiancée might have found amusing.

“No,” she assured him. “No, no jokes,” she promised him, leaning over to put her head on his shoulder, glad enough when his arm crept around her back to hold her close. “It’s just everything that’s happened, it just occurred to me how crazy it seems. I mean, just a couple of weeks ago I was an ordinary girl with an ordinary waitressing job and nothing much to look forward to...”

“You were never ordinary, my sweet Virginia,” Wolf promised her faithfully, nuzzling his nose into her hair.

She took his words as a sweet compliment, but at the same time she felt the gravity and truth of them. The daughter of the vessel that carried the original Wicked Step-Mother’s evil power was hardy a normal person. Her destiny had been written since she was a little girl, and she had played a major role in bringing peace to the 9 Kingdoms. Now, here she was back in her own home, the 10th Kingdom as the people called it, and she was going to have to learn to be kind of ordinary all over again.

“Y’know, I couldn’t be happier that you’re here,” she told Wolf, bringing her head up off his shoulder to meet his eyes. “Honestly, when we first met, I did not see this coming, even when you insisted it was destined and a done deal,” she laughed lightly, “but are you sure about your decision to... to be with me?” she checked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Virginia, this is where I’m supposed to be,” he reminded her of words he’d said a hundred times before in the past days that they had got to know one another. “I come from a place that believes strongly in destiny and in true love,” he explained. “When I met you, the very first moment I laid eyes on you, I knew this was it. You and me were supposed to be together, we are, and we will be forever. Wolves mate for life,” he reminded her, leaning in to kiss the end of her nose.

“I know. I understand that,” she nodded, “but you made a big sacrifice coming here with me,” she told him what he must already realise. “I mean, this place is so different to what you left behind. We don’t have wolves here, at least there is no other wolf like you”.

“Well, I am a very singular guy,” he told her with a grin.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same because she just couldn’t help herself. “It’s going to be a big adjustment for you. We can’t just run around using magic beans and sleeping in the forest,” she shook her head. “We have to act like normal people. Get jobs, make money, raise this baby,” she explained, her hand going to her middle as she spoke of the child he swore was growing inside her already.

“I can be normal,” Wolf shrugged easily, though the way he scratched at his temple the very next moment proved otherwise. “Besides, even though there’s stuff we have to do here, it doesn’t mean we still can’t do what we want sometimes,” he told her. “I mean, like, right now. What do you wanna do, right now?” he asked her.

Virginia wasn’t sure what to say to that. She wasn’t sure about anything much at all right now, except for the fact she loved Wolf and didn’t want to ever be without him. She giggled as she watched him leap back over onto the bridge and turned herself around to do the same, hopping down into his waiting arms.

“I don’t know, I... honestly?” she considered. “Right now, I want to... I want to run around Central Park cheering because I’m back here, and because I’m with you,” she admitted, knowing it sounded silly, hoping he didn’t think she was too crazy to live with after this.

“Virginia,” he whispered, his hands at her face, prompting her to open her eyes which she had hardly noticed she closed when she was speaking before. “That is the best idea I ever heard,” he told her, planting a kiss on her lips.

The next moment he had a hold of her hand and they were running full pelt off the bridge, down in amongst the trees. They came out into the open, yelling and cheering, howling at the barely-there moon high above their heads, and laughing like kids at how crazy everything was and would probably always be. They spun in circles until Virginia was sure she would fall down, but she never did stumble, because Wolf was there to hold her steady, to catch her when she fell, just as he promised her faithfully that day in Kissing Town.

“I am so, so happy to be home,” she told him, giddy both from the spinning around and from finally feeling as if she understood what it was to be happy, content, in love.

“The tenth kingdom does have its perks,” he agreed, running his fingers through her short hair. “If I never came here, I never would’ve found you, my beautiful succulent Virginia,” he told her, pulling her in closer and holding on tight, his lips attacking her neck and making her giggle then sigh happily.

Things were not going to be straight-forward here. Whilst this real world of hers, did not have swamp queens or trolls or black magic to hurt them, it had a multitude of other evils lurking in the dark. Coming back here meant money troubles, working normal jobs for low pay, struggling to keep an apartment, and minding the law that would arrest Virginia’s own father the moment he returned.

“No magic here,” she whispered in the dark to no-one in particular, though of course Wolf heard her and reacted immediately.

“What? No magic in the 10th Kingdom?” he echoed her thoughts with shock. “Virginia, have you learnt nothing on our adventures together?” he asked her, spinning her out of his arms in a perfect twirl and back into them as dramatically.

She collided softly with his chest and stared up at him with questioning eyes, unsure what he was getting at.

“It’s true, there is no magic of the kind you mean. No spells or dusts or potions exactly,” he agreed. “But what we have is the most powerful magic in all the ten kingdoms,” he told her definitely. “We have true love,” he smiled.

If any other guy she had ever known said such a thing to her, Virginia might have thought it the corniest thing in the world. She would have laughed in their face and thought it was the lamest line ever uttered. Now she knew better. Now she had Wolf, and she understood that true love really did exist and just exactly what it felt like.

“You’re right,” she nodded slowly. “We do have the most powerful magic there is,” she agreed, leaning up to kiss his lips.

Passers-by saw them and probably assumed they were just another couple out on a date in Central Park. Some might think she was a fool to trust a man out in the dark like this, and others may find it was all very sweet and romantic. Only Wolf and Virginia knew the truth, that they were the luckiest two people in the whole of ten kingdoms, because they had found each other, fulfilled their density, and had a whole glorious life spread out in front of them to enjoy in this the world they would call home for now, the fabulous not-so-mythical 10th Kingdom.


	2. The Night of Three Wishes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of weeks post-series - Virginia knows magic can be dangerous unless used wisely.

Virginia was sat on the floor by the coffee table, her chin rested on her folded hands, as she stared down the inanimate object before her. It wasn’t going to do anything by itself, it was just a coin after all. One gold Wendell from the 4th Kingdom, only it certainly wasn’t ordinary. It had turned up the morning after she and Wolf came back home. Virginia found it when it fell from the pocket of her sweater as she picked it up from the floor, abandoned in the heat of passion the night before. Wolf was discovering the wonder of showers in the 10th Kingdom, and had no idea about the coin, wrapped in a small piece of paper that bore a simple short message;

‘For my dearest Virginia, to repay my debt to you for all you have done, three wishes when you rub this magic coin. Choose wisely. Yours ever, Wendell’

A gift from a king was something to be treasured and the sentiment was wonderful, but Virginia almost feared what this wishing coin meant. Magic could be useful and helpful, but it could also be misused and horribly addictive. She had learnt that the hard way, alongside her father, and her poor sick mother too. She didn’t think Wolf would be so easily swayed. After all, he had been the one to warn her so many times, of magic shoes and poison apples. Still, things were going to be tough now they were back here in her own reality, needing jobs and money and everything. That was before she even considered the baby that would came along and further complicate things.

Virginia had kept the coin a secret from Wolf, even though she knew it was wrong. As time went on and days turned into weeks, things were tough. They were no less happy to be together, but Wolf was struggling to get any kind of work without the proper papers or even a full name. Virginia herself struggled with explaining where she had been whilst away in the 9 Kingdoms and how she had come to change so much, to be engaged and pregnant by the time she got back. She missed Tony. She felt out of her depth much of the time, and found herself jotting down ideas for wishes she might make on the coin, but never actually making them.

Wendell’s words were to be taken very seriously - choose wisely. It would be so easy to wish for a fortune, a big house, a lavish wedding, or a restaurant to call their own, but Virginia knew those were not the truly important things. Before her now lie a piece of paper with at least two dozen possible wishes written on it, most of which had been crossed out. She was down to three, and almost completely certain these were the things she must ask for.

“I have returned, my love!” Wolf called to her as he came in the front door. “You will not believe...” he was joyously going to tell her some thrilling tale of something new he had learnt about New York, she was sure, but stopped short when he realised she looked so down. “Oh, sweet Virginia. You look so upset. Was I gone too long? Did you miss me painfully?” he asked, diving over the table to grab her up in his arms to hold her tight.

“No,” she told him with a chuckle, reconsidering a moment later when she realised what that sounded like. “I mean, yes, I always miss you, but I’m okay. I’m not sick or anything, I just... There’s something I have to tell you,” she said then, moving to meet his eyes.

Wolf swallowed hard, feeling a little nauseous. She was being very serious, too serious. He worried when she became this way that she was going to say the worst possible of things, like asking him to leave, sending him away, telling him she no longer loved him. Such words would break his heart and leave him with no option but to end a life he could never live without her now!

“I... I have a coin,” she said, reaching for it on the table. “It’s a magic coin, that Wendell gave me as a gift.”

“Oh, that,” Wolf sighed a heavy sigh of relief, almost laughing at how panicked he had been for no reason. “Virginia, I thought you were going to speak of something much worse than a magic coin from the 4th Kingdom that I already knew you had”.

“You knew... but I never told you,” she shook her head. “You can’t possibly smell magic,” she said definitely before she saw the look on his face. “Can you?”

Wolf nodded at her, with an expression that suggested whilst he loved her she could still sometimes be quite blind to abilities that she did not have herself.

“And you didn’t mind my not telling you?” she checked, finding it odd that he wouldn’t feel betrayed like any other guy might, but then Wolf wasn’t really like most other guys.

“It was your coin, and your wishes to choose, Virginia,” he explained, his hand at her cheek. “I wasn’t going to stand in the way of whatever you wanted,” he told her tenderly.

She could have cried when he was so sweet like that, and almost did in a moment. She blamed her pregnancy hormones, despite the fact they probably weren’t effecting her too much yet. She just needed a good excuse for being so moved by so simple a thing.

“Well, I want to share this with you,” she said definitely, leaning into his side as she picked her list up off the table and showed it to him. “You think these are good choices?”

Wolf wasn’t surprised by the first wish. Virginia wanted the magic of the coin to lift all the charges on Tony so he might one day come back to the 10th Kingdom. That was completely understandable, and something Wolf would have chosen himself. The second wish was for their baby, a wish to ensure that their son would be born healthy. There was certainly no way to argue with that either. It was the third item on the list that made him shake his head.

“Virginia, you shouldn’t waste a wish on me,” he told her softly, looking down to where her head was now resting under his chin. 

“It’s not a waste,” she said indignantly, moving so quickly she almost caused an impact that might’ve broken his jaw. “I love you and I want you to be happy here. That’s not going to happen if you’re made to feel useless. I know you enough to realise that,” she explained. “If I wish you up an identity, paperwork and social security and everything, you can get a job. We can buy a house one day, and start that restaurant we talked about,” she told him. “Its a wish for both of us.”

Not that he could ever forget, but moments like this reminded Wolf full-force why he loved Virginia so much. Why from the moment he saw her he knew she was the one. She was so passionate when she set her mind to something, and so full of love that she was just afraid to show. After their adventures in the 4th Kingdom and beyond, Virginia had found her inner strength and beauty that Wolf had seen from the start, and was evident here now in her eyes and every word she was saying to him. He had no way to thank her but to prove how much he felt for her with a kiss that almost knocked them both over onto the carpet.

“You will never truly understand how much I adore you,” he whispered when they parted, and she smiled.

“Don’t bet on that,” she told him. “I might just love you equally as much as you love me. In fact, I know I do,” she promised, as she returned him the favour of a kiss, albeit with less force than his own had been.

She held up the coin in her hand between them then, and Wolf nodded his approval, sitting back on his haunches as she closed her eyes and carefully worded her wishes.

“Magic coin, my three wishes are these - I wish that all the charges the police are holding against my father, Tony Lewis, are dropped as of this moment; I wish that when mine and Wolf’s baby is born he is healthy and happy; and I wish that my Wolf has an identity here, with all the paperwork he needs to be treated as a real citizen of the United States of America”.

A moment after she was done, she opened her eyes, and was almost disappointed to see nothing had changed. Virginia wasn’t sure what she had expected exactly, since none of her wishes had a reason to conjure any objects before her or anything of that kind.

“Do you think it worked?” she asked Wolf with an unimpressed look. “I didn’t feel anything...” she started to say but stopped when she opened her hand to see the coin and realised it was gone, leaving but a trail of golden glittering magic in its wake.

Wolf was frowning as he got up and stuck a hand in the back pocket of his pants. Virginia wondered what was wrong until suddenly he produced a wad of papers and an ID card. There she saw his picture and the name ‘Warren Wolfson’ typed nearly beside it. All this proved he was a citizen of the US, complete with social security number, even a birth certificate that bore his actual parents names.

“That’s... incredible,” she laughed with shock and relief combined as she hugged Wolf close and he hugged her back.

It seemed that sometimes wishes did come true, if your heart was in them, and you were careful enough to choose wisely.


	3. The Night Shift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Approx. a month post-series - Wolf & Virginia get themselves jobs at the Grill on the Green.

Virginia was starting to wonder if this has been a good idea. She had to have a job, of course, if for nothing else so she could pay rent and bills. Then there was the baby to consider. There was simply no choice for her or Wolf but to try to get jobs and keep them, and the easiest place to start was the Grill on the Green. The boss liked her a lot, she hoped he would cut her some slack on her disappearing act if she had a good explanation. Virginia realised that the real reason for her disappearance just wasn’t going to cut it – I followed a prince-turned-dog through a magic mirror and spent a week and a half in the 9 Kingdoms beyond our own. Yeah, that was not going to work. Instead she had stuck to half-truths, that a family crisis had taken her out of town, and that her mother had died. The tears were real enough when she gave her explanation and immediately Mr Flynn, her boss, had given her back the job he swore she was fired from when he first saw her again. It really hadn’t taken much to get Wolf a job too, not since the paperwork that had materialised for ‘Warren Wolfson’ also proclaimed qualifications that suited him to a T. Of course, there were downsides to her fiancé and his new line of work, as tonight proved.

“So that’s two lamb specials, a beer for sir, a spritzer for the lady and… and I’ll be right back,” Virginia said quickly, making a fast shuffle towards the kitchen

There was various crashing and banging noises coming from there, not to mention yelling that was akin to howling. Rushing through the swing doors, Virginia found the chef getting violent with a rack of lamb and a selection of vegetables, wielding a cleaver in such a way as to send all other staff running away in fear.

Virginia had no fear of Wolf, even in this state. He just got very upset when food wasn’t prepared the way he thought it should be. Thankfully, when the other chef up and walked out, Mr Flynn hadn’t minded much. He was excited by all of Wolf’s new ideas, though some just wouldn’t fly. You couldn’t serve raw animal carcass to very many regular people without them getting upset, and even fewer expected only meant without sides and accompaniments.

“Wolf!” Virginia yelled over his crashing of pans. “Put the blade down!” she advised, as he looked up and met her eyes, his own flashing a little gold in that moment.

He seemed to come to his senses the moment his beloved was present, realising suddenly that he was still holding the cleaver aloft and all the mess he had managed to make.

“Oh, Virginia!” he exclaimed, dropping the knife and throwing up his now empty hands. “I can’t work like this! I’m not used to this kind of food, and those people, they don’t understand how to appreciate meat!”

It might have been funny if he weren’t so upset. Wolf was often amusing without ever meaning to be, but these days his pain was her pain and Virginia hated that he was becoming so frustrated. He had to make so many adjustments to his life, to his very being, just so they could be together and he could survive here in the 10th Kingdom.

It occurred to her, as she went to him and hugged him close, that things could get worse yet. There was a calendar at home with next Wednesday highlighted on it as the night of the full moon. Wolf was pretty good at being a seemingly regular human male most of the time, and even now seemed like nothing worse than a man with a short fuse on his temper. There was no telling what effect the full moon would have on his wolf side in this world, and she dare not broach the subject with him yet. Now was certainly not a good time.

“I’m so sorry, Virginia,” he told her, practically sobbing into her shoulder. “I’ll try harder, I will, I just get so… so frustrated!” he declared.

“I know, but it’s okay,” she promised him, moving to look him in the eyes. “You can do this, I know you can,” she assured him, putting her hands to his face. “Okay?”

Wolf let out a sigh then. His dreamy creamy girl had such confidence in him, such love in her eyes when she looked at him like that. It was more than a wolfie could ever deserve, more than even a man could hope for. He had to try harder for her sake, even if that meant cooking what he considered sub-standard food for the patrons of the grill.

“I can do it, I can work like any other person,” he nodded definitely. “But you shouldn’t be working so hard!” he declared then, animated again in a moment as he pulled out a stool and sat her on it before she had chance to protest. “You should be taking it easy, in your condition,” the last part he whispered conspiratorially near her ear and Virginia laughed.

“Wolf, it hasn’t even been a month yet. I’m fine,” she reminded him. “Women work right into their third trimester sometimes, I can handle a little waitressing for a few months yet.”

Wolf didn’t like to argue with her, but he also didn’t want any harm coming to either her or their precious cub. He had to hope she was right in what she said, had to trust her mother instincts in the same way she trusted him and his wolfie instincts when it mattered.

“I guess I should get back to the cooking,” he said the word with such disgust as he looked at the meat, clearly preferring it be served as raw as it was right now.

“I guess you should, or we’ll both end up fired. We really, really can’t afford for that to happen,” she reminded him, getting up off the stool and kissing his cheek. “Two lamb specials for table eight,” she told him, hanging the order slip on the carousel. “I’ll tell the other staff that you’ve calmed down now so they come back in and help you out, okay?”

“Yes, please,” Wolf nodded and tried for a smile. “Tell them I’m sorry?”

“Of course,” she agreed, popping back outside the doors and encouraging the dishwashers and assistants back into the kitchen.

They went unwillingly at first, until they realised Wolf was in fact so calm and happy in his work now he was singing gaily under his breath. Had they heard the actual words about the shepherdess and little lambs, they might not have been as confident as they pretended to be!

Back out amongst the paying public, Virginia let out a breath she hardly knew she had been holding. In the space of two weeks, there had only been two such incidents with Wolf in the kitchen. That wasn’t bad considering the massive adjustments he was having to make.

“So, you tame the beast again?” Candy asked Virginia with a grin, popping her gum as she leaned against the cash register she had just closed.

“Something like that,” her friend agreed, taking no offence at the phrasing used since she knew Candy meant no harm. “He’s fine, he’s just… he gets very passionate about his work.”

“Seems to me he gets all kinds of passionate about everything,” Candy winked. “Seriously, Virginia, what I wouldn’t do for a man like that,” she shook her head as she made to walk away and see to the next customer that waved for attention. “I’ll bet he’s an animal in the bedroom too.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Virginia laughed lightly to herself as she watched her friend walk away, and returned to her work.


	4. Night Of The Full Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Approx. a month post-series - How does the full moon in the 10th Kingdom effect half-wolves?

Virginia had been very careful when she and Wolf picked their shifts at the Grill on the Green. The night of the full moon could not exactly be used as an excuse without giving far too much away. Eventually, they had figured out a way around it and Virginia was glad of that now more than ever.

The cramps had started right around sundown. Perhaps not as bad as they had been in Little Lamb village, but bad enough. After the last time, Virginia was wary about supplying rabbits or any other warm furry creatures for fear of them being eaten. Wolf had changed, she knew that, but battling your true nature was never easy. She couldn’t imagine he could ever bottle up his wolf side completely. Honestly, she wouldn’t want him too, but for the sake of their survival in the place they called the 10th Kingdom, he would have to try his best on the night of the full moon.

A hot water bottle seemed to help a little, and Virginia laid down beside her man in the dark, reassuring him everything was going to be okay. He seemed coherent at least, apologising for causing problems, grateful for all she had done for him. Copious amounts of meat had been eaten for dinner, and somehow that seemed to sate the beast within. Now he just looked tired and was sweating profusely despite the fact he swore he was not hot at all.

“It scares me,” he admitted shakily. “I scare myself,” he whined.

“Well, you don’t scare me,” Virginia promised as she snuggled in close to his side, laying her head on his chest.

It was a lot of trust she was pinning on him. She was more sure than Wolf himself could ever be that he would do no harm here tonight. Hurting Virginia was what scared him most, not least because she was carrying their cub. He hoped and prayed that if the worst should happen, if the animal urges in him took over, he could at least see through the darkness that engulfed him enough to keep her safe. To wake tomorrow with no memory and the sight of his darling fiancée in any kind of injured state would kill him. He would kill himself, he knew that much. If he could just get through tonight, it was all Wolf needed.

At some point, they both must have fallen asleep. Virginia was surprised how peaceful she had felt when she awoke to find she was alone in the bed. Initially, she wanted to panic, to worry where Wolf had gone and what he might have done. Instead she took a breath and bit down the fear that rose in her throat. It would be okay, she repeated the mantra to herself, as she got herself up and quickly dressed.

Searching the apartment, she realised Wolf was not there, and so headed out to see if she could track him down. She was waiting for the elevator when she heard a familiar sound, a howling that she would know anywhere, coming from above her. With a smile only because she was so relieved to know where he was, Virginia hurried into the elevator that had just arrived and punched the button for the top floor. She was on the roof access stairs just a minute or two later and then emerged in the cold crisp night air.

Wolf was near the edge of the roof, looking up at a gloriously clear full moon, letting out a howl that was neither pained nor angry. He almost seemed happy to be here, and only wanted the celestial body above to know it.

“Wolf?” she called to him as she carefully approached from behind.

“Virginia!” he ran to her the moment he realised she was there.

It surprised her that he hadn’t smelt her coming, but then perhaps the moon was the single thing able to distract him from her scent. If anything were likely to be able to do that, this would be it.

“Are you okay?” she checked, a little surprised by how well he really did look.

“Okay? Virginia, I’m wonderful! I’m... amazing!” he declared, actually laughing as he grabbed her, spinning her around until her feet came up off the floor.

She might have complained about being dizzy if she weren’t so elated. He looked like her Wolf, like the man she loved and not the animal she knew he was capable of becoming. His eyes were clear and bright with the merest glitter of sparkling gold, and his smile was entirely infectious.

“It’s great that you feel so good, but I don’t understand,” she told him as he set her back on her feet. “You felt the effects so badly before, and now it’s... it’s almost as if the moon isn’t even there,” she shook her head.

“Oh, it’s there,” he nodded positively, looking up at the big round shining full moon above them. “It’s there and it’s be-auoooo-tiful,” he half-howled the word. “I feel it. With everything in me, I feel it,” he explained, holding onto her still as they both gazed up into the sky. “But I have control. I didn’t think I could do it, but you, you believed in me, and now I just want to tell the world that this wolfie is cured! Cured by the love of a beautiful, wonderful, scrumptious woman!” he yelled too loudly, until lights in the next block started coming on.

“Sssh, Wolf!” Virginia urged him. “I’m happy about this too but please don’t wake up all the neighbours,” she told him.

She couldn’t really believe he was cured, not literally. His wolf side was not an illness, it was a part of him. Of course, if he could at least gain some control over it, that was a kind of cure she supposed.

“People need their sleep,” she reminded him, when he looked completely unashamed about waking so many.

“I don’t,” he declared with a grin that was as wolfish as ever. “I couldn’t sleep, Virginia, not tonight. Not when I feel soooooo alive,” he howled to the moon and his fiancée almost wished to do the same.

She could live with this, easily. With Wolf just being excitable and frisky when the moon came out to play. So long as he could keep the blood-lust down to a dull roar, that was all they needed to fit into this world and still have him be himself. He did seem to have a handle on it, as incredible as it was.

Virginia had hoped things wouldn’t be so bad in the 10th Kingdom. Doubtless there was power in the moon beyond the magic mirror that this one did not have. Besides, a lot of the uncontrollable urges Wolf battled in Little Lamb Village had been down to the Evil Queen rather than just the moon’s magical sway. She had made him think too much about the dark power within him, the beast that wanted to hunt and harm and kill. All animals were capable of violence, Virginia knew that, including regular human beings. Control was the key to everything, and if her love was helping Wolf have the confidence in himself to keep a check on his wolfie nature, then she couldn’t be more proud and grateful. She couldn’t love him more.

“I don’t think I could sleep anymore tonight either,” she said then, finally prising Wolf’s gaze back from the moon. “Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t go back to bed...” she told him with a look in her eyes bordering on wolfish herself.

“I’ll give you a ten second head start,” he growled near her ear, faking a lunge at her as she took off running back through the hatch and down the steps.

It was the fastest countdown from ten to zero that anyone had ever heard in their life, and then the sounds of growling and giggling combined echoed through the building as he chased her back to their apartment and their bed.

Yes, Virginia was glad the full moon hadn’t made Wolf lose himself, but she would never regret falling in love with a man that had plenty of animal passion inside of him.


	5. Midnight Snack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months post-series - Virginia's pregnancy cravings aren't worrying Virginia, but Wolf can't stand them!

Wolf woke to the sound of rustling in the kitchen and an empty space beside him. Though he would usually notice a lot faster when Virginia got out of the bed, he had just been so tired tonight. He never really had a job before and had to work so hard, and found it quite exhausted him at times. Even creatures of seemingly boundless energy could be out-done by restaurant work in the 10th Kingdom it seemed.

The clock by the bed proclaimed 02:14 as Wolf hopped out, scratched at his temple and followed the sound of Virginia to the kitchen. He might have followed her scent at any other time but other smells were assaulting his senses right now. It was a strange time for his scrumptious delicious fiancée to be eating anyway, but if she was eating all the things he could smell, that couldn’t be good!

Inching the door open, wondering at the fact of it ever being shut in the first place, Wolf found Virginia stood by the counter top, with her hand literally in a cookie jar. She spun around so fast when he said her name, she almost dropped the thing on the ground. Wolf’s quick reflexes meant he caught it half way down and saved it from smashing.

“Hi,” said Virginia, around a mouthful of more than just cookies.

If Wolf’s nose was properly tuned, there was bacon, anchovies, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups involved in there. That was an odd enough combination to turn anybody’s stomach, unless you were Virginia apparently.

“I was hungry,” she said defensively, pulling the cookie jar from his grasp and up under her own arm.

“Which might be considered odd at two in the morning,” said Wolf, “but not as strange as the things you’re mixing up here. Virginia, it’s... it’s an affront to modern cuisine!”

She might have scoffed at that if her mouth had been empty long enough. He thought he was an expert on all things food related, more so now than ever. After gaining employment at the Grill, Wolf had taken to reading a lot of books. If a chef wrote about his career, if there was a relevant recipe book within three feet of him, Wolf would absorb it as quickly as possible. He was learning a lot and that was a good thing, but he didn’t seem to know much about pregnant women.

“I’m eating for two,” she reminded him, swallowing hard, “and this is what the baby is craving, so I’ll eat it,” she told him, sweeping the blanket she wore up around her shoulders some more and stalking away.

Wolf looked at the devastation of their beautiful kitchen and whined. If this was going to go on for nine months, he wasn’t sure he could stand it! Okay, so there had been three months already without any of this, but another six would still kill him. Virginia was feeding their cub an awful mixture of food, it couldn’t he good for him at all.

“Virginia, my darling!” he called after her, chasing her back to the bedroom.

She was sitting on the bed now with her legs crossed, a bag of potato chips in one hand and a tub of mint choc chip ice-cream in the other. Eating one and then the other might have been acceptable. Dipping the chips in the dessert was a whole other deal.

“Stop looking at me like I’m a freak!” she complained when she felt his eyes on her, turning herself around some.

“I would never do that!” exclaimed Wolf, appearing to be cut to the core by her words. “You are my beautiful, delicious fiancée , and I adore you,” he promised her, as he sat down on the opposite edge of the bed, “but this... this is not normal,” he made a face of disgust.

“Pregnant women have cravings, I told you!” Virginia complained, practically growling, which Wolf might have appreciated at any other moment. “You should try reading the pregnancy book I got for you, in amongst all the cookery crap!”

Wolf looked slightly guilty about that. He had been meaning to get around to that book, he really had, but others had looked more interesting somehow. Still, he couldn’t think about that now. Not when Virginia was violating both his own nose and potentially their poor cub’s health.

“I don’t think our cub should be craving this,” he said, still making a face. “Meat perhaps, lots and lots of meat!” he told her with more vigour than was completely necessary, “but I don’t want him thinking this is an acceptable dish,” he complained, watching Virginia as she shoved another ice-cream filled chip towards her mouth.

With deliberate intent, she made a big deal of slowly putting the food in her mouth and biting down hard. With long slow chews she proved she wasn’t listening or didn’t care. She swallowed down her food and then grinned in some kind of triumph, only for that expression to falter within a second.

Wolf saw and smelt the change, sure he knew what was coming. His lightning reflexes had her up into his arms and down to the bathroom right on time. Her head was over the toilet when the moment came, and Virginia heaved away everything she had crammed into her body tonight.

Wolf felt like saying ‘I told you’ so or similar, but he loved his dearest Virginia too much to be so cruel. He knew enough to know that pregnant women were fragile, especially when it came to their feelings. His mother was unbearable when she was carrying his younger siblings. They had been driven out of one town after another after several midnight attacks and feasts. Her behaviour was worse than any full moon change Wolf himself had ever experienced. Afterwards, she would be so sad and sorry. She would whine and sob for days. The memories alone made Wolf upset, and hearing Virginia choking and crying did not help.

“Oh, sweet Virginia,” he sighed, rubbing her back. “I’m so sorry for not being more understanding. You’re going through so much, I should be better at supporting you in your hour of need!”

She didn’t answer that, she couldn’t if she wanted to. Finally done throwing up, she flushed the toilet and moved to wash her hands and face in the sink. Virginia felt awful, more nauseated than before she had actually thrown up if it were possible. Her reflection in the mirror made her feel no better at all. She was sobbing all over again as she sank to her knees on the tiled floor, glad of Wolf’s arms around her as he reached to pull her in close. He nuzzled his nose into her hair and tried to make soothing noises which she appreciated. Virginia was aware she had been snapping at him before and she hated that. She hated she hadn’t known better than to eat so much of so many different foods, but it was as if she had no control. The cravings were too strong to ignore.

It had to be because she was carrying a little wolfie inside rather than a fully human child. Much like his daddy, the baby had difficulty keeping control of his appetites sometimes, and that showed through his mother. Virginia only hoped this kind of thing didn’t keep happening. After all, they still had almost six months to go.

“I’m going to read that book,” Wolf told her as he held her close still, his back against the bath tub and his precious girl bundled all in his lap. “First thing in the morning, I will start, and not stop until I have read the whole thing, cover to cover!” he declared.

Virginia nodded to prove she heard but didn’t care to answer. Here she was safe and warm, feeling a little better with every rise and fall of the strong chest beneath her cheek. Getting the food she craved had ultimately left her wanting. The man she craved never ever did.


	6. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five months post-series - Virginia is scared of not being a good mother.

It was dark, so very dark and cold. She could see nothing around her and feel nothing but pain tearing through every fibre of her being. Virginia tried to scream, but no sound came from her lips. She was terrified, not just from the regular searing pain at her middle, but because somehow she knew she was not alone.

“Hello?” she called into the black, glad at least to realise her voice worked then.

“She thinks she’s so smart,” came the response, though it was clear her father was talking about her rather than to her.

“Dad?” Virginia tried to reach him, hoping for comfort, but there was none when she saw his face alone appear.

“So smart and just better than me. That’s what she thinks!” he sneered nastily. “Too good for her own father’s company.”

Tears streaked down Virginia’s cheeks as she fought to get off the bed that seemed to want to hold her down. The moment she thought she might have struggled free, the pain began again, pinning her down hard.

“She thinks she can be the perfect mother,” said a new voice, a nasty tone from a woman Virginia could not bear to see and yet was forced to.

“Mommy, please!” she urged her to be kind, but the face that appeared was as evil as the Queen had ever been.

“Ungrateful, awful daughter!” her Dad snapped.

“Terrible, hopeless mother!” her Mom added nastily.

Virginia tried to hide her face, wish away the awful apparitions of her parents. She concentrated on anything else. Even the pain that threatened to tear her in two was better than facing those haunting faces and words. She wished for Wolf to be here, to make everything okay like he always did. That wish was granted in a moment when she turned to check the images of her parents were gone and instead found her beloved stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes closed tight shut.

“Wolf! Please, help me!” she begged of him.

He didn’t answer, barely moved at all for a moment. Just when she was about to speak again, his eyes opened, flashing yellow and orange. Fangs glinted at his lips and he snarled like a pure wild animal. Diving towards her, Virginia was shocked to find he made no impact.

When she dared to peek at the world, he was gone, the room empty and dark again. The pain came in a final crashing wave, and this time when Virginia screamed it sounded long and loud. Her hands went to her stomach and she found it flat, no evidence at all of her five months of pregnancy.

Virginia honestly wasn’t sure if she woke up screaming for real or if the awful blood-curdling noise was only inside her head. All she knew was that she was sat bolt upright in bed now, with her arms wrapped around her knees and tears in her eyes. There was no a part of her that wasn’t shaking, and she hated how out of control she felt.

“Virginia, what’s wrong?” Wolf asked her, immediately there behind her with his hands at her shoulders. “Is it the baby? Is something wrong? Because nothing smells wrong...?”

“No! Yes!” she shrugged away his grip. “There’s nothing wrong now, but... but how is this going to work?” she asked more rhetorically than anything else. “How is us having this baby ever going to work?!”

“It’ll work, Virginia, it’ll be fine,” he tried to reassure her, more than a little worried by her sudden erratic behaviour.

“Oh, it’ll be fine?!” she practically exploded. “How is it going to be fine? I don’t know how to be a mother! This baby is going to be born to an absent grandfather, a dead evil grandmother, a mom that doesn’t know how to even look after herself most of the time, and a dad that might want to eat him once a month!”

It was the last part she shouldn’t have said. Virginia knew it long before Wolf ever leapt from the bed and stormed out of the room, practically whining with the pain she had caused. It was a cruel and awful thing to say, but she was so upset by her nightmare, so thoroughly overwhelmed, it had just come out before she really thought about it.

“Wolf!” she called after him, scrambling to get out of bed as fast as she could, mindful of falling and hurting herself or her unborn child.

Flinging on his dressing gown because it was the first thing that came to hand, she followed him out of the front door of the apartment, and down the stairs. She hoped he hadn’t gone too far. She wasn’t really in a fit state to go outside and it was colder than she would have liked just chasing him around within the building.

Virginia took it as a good sign on all levels when she found her darling Wolf sitting on the last flight of stairs before the doors that led out onto the street. From behind she couldn’t see his expression, of course, but she knew he was upset. His legs were jiggling with pent up tension and probably anger that she couldn’t blame him for. His elbows rested on his knees and his fingers were pushed back into his hair.

“I know you’re there,” he told her, without ever turning.

Whether he heard her or smelled her first, Virginia wasn’t sure, but she had half expected him to say something like that. Sinking down right behind him on the stairs, she rested her head and hands on his back and sighed.

“I am so, so sorry,” she told him honestly. “I didn’t mean what I said, I really didn’t, I just...”

“You just what, Virginia?” he asked, turning fast, catching her before she tumbled over into his lap in surprise. “You just think I’m a useless animal, is that it?” he asked her, angry and upset both, evidenced by the pain in his eyes more than anything.

It killed her to know she made him feel this way. Of all the people in her life, Wolf had stuck by her like nobody else. He liked to talk about how many times he saved her life in their trip across the nine kingdoms, but he didn’t know the half of it. He taught her how to live and to love. He gave her a life worth saving, and she hurt him so badly. She just had to hope he could forgive her somehow.

“You know I don’t think that,” she promised him, reaching out a hand to push his hair off his face. “Just because your name is Wolf you’re so much more than that. You’re a man. You’re my man, and I love you. You know how hard it is for me to trust people, and I trust you,” she swore to him. “I wouldn’t be here if I felt differently. Please, don’t be mad at me, I really didn’t mean what I said,” she promised, voice breaking and eyes pouring tears by this time. “It was the nightmare, I didn’t... I didn’t mean it.”

Wolf knew she was sorry, of course he knew, but it didn’t take all of his pain away. What she said had cut him to the core because it was his own worst fear. It was Virginia’s unfaltering trust in him that allowed him to believe in himself, to keep control over his more animalistic tendencies. If she couldn’t believe him, he would lose all trust in himself, and that would be dangerous.

Putting his hands to her face and making her look at him, he tried to speak twice but no sound came out until the third attempt.

“Virginia, I would never, ever, hurt you or our little cub,” he promised her as faithfully as he ever swore anything. “I would rather die than do that.”

She was full on crying as she fell into his arms then and held on tight. He hugged her close and let the pain and anger go, since there was no use for it. She hadn’t meant what she said, she was just upset from her bad dream, and her hormones were going crazy because of the baby. It was normal for her to be this way, it was nature. It would all pass in time.

“I love you,” she told him, the words muffled against his shoulder but his ever-sensitive hearing made them out anyway.

“I should think so,” he teased her, as he moved and made her look up. “I am your mate for life after all,” he smiled a watery smile, feeling dumb when he realised he had been crying too without even noticing.

“Take me back to bed, please?” she urged him, not wholly surprised when he easily swept her up into his arms and began carrying her back to the apartment.

What she said was horrible, much like what she had dreamt before had been, but it was okay. Words, nightmares, none of it was anything real. What Virginia and Wolf felt for each other was what mattered. The way they acted, protecting each other, being strong for one another, those were the things that mattered. They would do the same for the baby, he promised her, in whispered words as he brought her back to their room and laid her down on the bed, never letting go of her as he joined her beneath the covers.

Virginia and Wolf fell asleep in each other’s arms - no more nightmares would bother them tonight.


	7. Strangers in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eight months post-series - Virginia is restless; Wolf's feeling it to. What's going on in Central Park?

Virginia couldn’t really explain what she was feeling. She tried to put it down to her pregnancy, since so many other symptoms seemed to connect back to it. This was different somehow, a gnawing worry kind of a feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe worry was the wrong word, but it wouldn’t go away.

Wolf started to panic the moment she mentioned it. The poor guy had been so attentive, going overboard to make sure she was comfortable, not working too hard. At eight months pregnant, Virginia had to finally give in on the waitressing job, no matter how much it cost them. Unfortunately, sitting at home alone only gave her more time to think about things, more time to worry about why she felt so very unsettled.

The way the pregnancy book told it, this wasn’t the start of labour or even Braxton Hicks. No amount of indigestion remedies shifted it. However long she slept, it wouldn’t quit.

Though it was late, Virginia levered herself up off the bed and waddled out of the door. Wolf had repeated to her several times reminders of what the doctor had told her about getting enough rest, but she wasn’t supposed be here. There was no way Virginia could explain it. Tonight, she just had to go out, that was all she knew.

Pulling on her coat, she caught sight of the time on the wall clock as she left. If she headed for the Grill, she should meet her fiancé coming the other way before long. If she made it all the way to the restaurant before he left, it’d be a miracle in her current state.

“Oh,” she gasped, leaning on the nearby rail of somebody’s fence. “When did walking become this hard?” she asked herself, breathing heavily.

The fact was this far into her pregnancy, Virginia wondered how she ever expected anything to be easy. Day after day, every task became tougher, and she developed a new found respect for all women anywhere who had ever been through this experience.

“Virginia?” the sound of his voice was oh so welcome, and his arms around her lending support ever more so. “Oh, love of my life! What are you doing out here?” asked Wolf, all worry and concern as he pulled his fiancée close, or as close as he could with her sticking out so far.

“I was... I was coming to meet you but...” she began to explain, her eyes shifting from his face to the park on the other side of the street.

She needed to go over there. Heaven only knew why, but she did. Wolf followed her gaze and frowned.

“Something’s different,” he said, his nose twitching. “I don’t know what it is but there’s something.”

“Yes, exactly!” his fiancée agreed, somewhat relieved to have him say these things. “Something made me wanna leave the apartment and come out here, and it’s in the park. You think it’s the mirror?” she asked, her question in a much lower tone.

“I don’t know, maybe,” Wolf agreed, taking a hold of her hand then. “I think we should investigate, or actually maybe I should,” he changed his mind having taken only one step. “You stay here, where it’s safe.”

“No!” Virginia immediately argued as he ought to have known she would. “If we go, we go together,” she insisted. “We’ll just go slowly is all,” she realised as she began trying to waddle along once again.

It took twice as long as it usually would to get across the street and into the park. They stopped three times for Virginia to catch her breath, and Wolf offered to carry her twice. She told him that would look ridiculous, though honestly by the second time she was almost willing to let him!

There was nobody around, as they stepped in amongst the trees. Virginia didn’t have to count her steps or figure out her location now. She knew where the door to the nine kingdoms lived, it was just instinct, she supposed. Walking just a pace ahead of Wolf, she spotted the area where the forest didn’t quite fit. The mirror had definitely been activated.

Suddenly this all seemed like a very bad idea. Who or what came through from the other side, they couldn’t possibly know. Vengeful trolls, a disgruntled follower of the Evil Queen, just an nosy courtier who wanted to see what wonders the 10th Kingdom held. Anybody or anything could have tumbled through, either deliberately or inadvertently. Virginia was just starting to panic when she turned to Wolf and realised he was smiling widely.

“Hey, grandpa!” he called over her head, practically giddy with joy.

It took Virginia just a moment to realise what he meant. She spun around so fast, it was a miracle she stayed on her feet, and yet she couldn’t care.

“Daddy!” she exclaimed as Tony appeared from the trees and grabbed her up in his arms.

Virginia wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time and did just that as she held on tight to her father. It had been too long since she saw him last. She knew she didn’t have to worry. He was safe enough in the 4th Kingdom with Wendell and he would come back to either visit or stay just as soon as he felt the need to. Still, seeing him now in this moment, Virginia hadn’t realised quite how much it would mean to her.

“This? This is why you were calling me grandpa?” Tony asked Wolf the moment he let go of his sizeable daughter.

“Um, yeah,” his almost-son in law nodded, scratching at his temple. “I thought you’d be happy?” he said awkwardly, ducking behind Virginia a little bit.

Tony tried to look severe, narrowing his eyes at the man who knocked up his baby girl. Unfortunately, he failed miserably as his gaze shifted to his glowing daughter. She looked happy. Over-sized and over-tired, but happy. She was all the best of her mother in that moment, and not a drop of the bad. He would never tell her that, of course, but it warmed his heart in the oddest way.

“Dad?” said Virginia then, the smile sliding from her lips in a moment. “Do you have news you need to share too?” she checked, looking beyond her father now.

There was a woman hovering behind him. She was slim and tall, a little younger than Tony perhaps, with light brown hair twisted up on top of her head and bright green eyes. She looked kind, if that made sense, and those instincts Virginia hoped always served her well told her this new woman in her father’s life was a good person.

“Sweetheart, this is Marla,” Tony introduced, gripping the older woman’s hand and bringing her forward. “Marla this is my daughter Virginia and her... significant other, Wolf,” he said awkwardly.

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you,” Marla smiled, her accent vaguely English, Virginia realised. “Your father is so proud of you. He talks of you so often. I feel as if I know you already.”

“I didn’t even know you existed,” the younger woman laughed lightly, “but I’m glad you’re here now, both of you,” she smiled just as wide as anyone.

“Well, you’re not the only one who was in the dark about certain people and not existing,” said Tony then, one hand making a gesture near Virginia’s swollen belly.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly have a lot of opportunity to tell you,” his daughter smiled, picking up Wolf’s hand in hers. “We’re happy, Dad. I mean, I’m beyond exhausted, but I am happy,” she promised him.

Sure, this wasn’t quite what Tony had expected when he stepped through the mirror and back into the world he had come from. The fact was, he was so nervous about what Virginia would think of Marla, he had hardly thought at all about his daughter’s situation. He had seriously wondered if Wolf would stick around or if Virginia would come back to the 4th Kingdom before long, tired of the real world after experiencing the wonders of the fantastic world beyond the magic mirror. Now she was here and pregnant, looking every bit as happy as she professed to be. He had no way to argue with it.

“Sweetheart,” Tony smiled, putting his free hand to Virginia’s cheek. “All I ever wanted was for you to be happy.”


	8. A Night of New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nine months post-series - A little cub is on its way, sooner rather than later!

“I can’t do it, I just can’t!” Virginia complained, screaming right after as another contraction tore through her body. “Its not physically possible, and I’m not ready and... argh!”

It was all quite undignified, the way she was yelling and cursing as a nurse and an orderly wheeled her down the hospital corridor on a gurney. Virginia didn’t care. She was in the midst of labour and not at all calm or happy about it. It probably hadn’t helped that it came on so suddenly, or that she was right in the middle of a fight with Wolf at the time. To be fair, she wasn’t even sure at this point what they’d started the argument over, but now he was getting both barrels whether he liked it or not. So far she had pretty much blamed him for everything since the Dark Ages, up to yesterdays missing newspaper, via the Civil War. Wolf was naturally hurt and confused by all this, but mostly just panicking about his lady and his cub.

“It’s normal,” Tony had assured him the moment Virginia started cursing Wolf’s name. “When they’re in this kinda pain, women get... well, they tend to wanna make you suffer as much as they’re suffering. They say hurtful things, but they don’t mean them.”

“Yes, I do!” Virginia hollered as she was wheeled past into the delivery room.

The two men turned away to finish their conversation.

“Its not like there weren’t two of you, er... playing Hide and Seek,” said Tony awkwardly.

He didn’t exactly want to think about the fact his little girl ever had sex with anyone, nevermind some half-wolf from a magical world! The fact was, the deed was done, and nine months later the baby created wanted out into the world. Virginia needed the support of both her partner and father right now, more than she needed anything else.

“Okay, I just, I have to try to be supportive, caring, and remember that once this part of the process is over, everything will be fine,” Wolf repeated to himself, words duly learned from his parenting book.

He pushed open the door to the delivery room only to receive a blow to the head by a low flying sock.

“This is the wrong bag!” Virginia bellowed. “You brought the bag of laundry and not my hospital bag!”

“Huff puff! I was in such a rush!” Wolf replied in a panic. “Oh, Virginia can you ever forgive me?” he asked desperately, flinging himself at her mercy by the side of the bed. “I can go back and get the other bag...”

“No,” she cut him off fast, grabbing his hand in both of hers and squeezing tight. “No, don’t leave me,” she urged him. “Please, Wolf, I can’t. I can’t do this by myself,” she told him, words giving way to a scream of pain once again.

From hating him to needing him desperately in the space of thirty seconds, Wolf wasn’t sure he could keep up with her swinging moods. Still, Virginia had been equally as difficult to live with this past month as her pregnancy stretched on and she increased both in size and foul mood. He felt for her, of course he did, but a man could not understand how a woman felt in such a state. Try as he might to be there for her, she was ultimately doing this alone.

“Oh, sweet Virginia, it’ll be okay,” he told her, pushing her hair back off her forehead that was already pouring sweat. “We have doctors and nurses, and Tony and Marla are right outside the door, and I’m here,” he rattled out fast. “We’re all here to help you.”

“You can’t help me,” she cried, tears streaking down her cheeks. “I have to do this and I don’t know how and... and it hurts,” she wailed.

By now Wolf’s sympathy was giving way to annoyance. Virginia was acting so weak and scared, it wasn’t like her. He knew this was a big deal, he understood from the pregnancy book and everything, but his beautiful, scrumptious fiancée was still tougher than this and he knew it. Maybe he just needed to remind her of that fact.

“Virginia,” he said, reaching out to take her chin in his hand and turned her head to face him. “Now you listen to me,” he told her gently. “I never met a woman more beautiful, more courageous, or with more strength than you have inside,” he promised. “All the things we went through in the beginning, all the things you went though, and you survived. More than that, you came out with the one thing all creatures of the nine kingdoms crave, a happily ever after ending,” he smiled, his hand at her cheek. “Now this is just one more trial, one more challenge to overcome, and then we get to be happy again, you and me, and little cub makes three.”

She smiled at that, almost managed to choke out a laugh even at the picture he painted. He was right, of course. Her wonderful, clever, ridiculous husband-to-be was perfectly right. This would be their happily ever after if she could just get through this. It’d be like the end of a fairytale story. Her smile broke down into a frown then as a thought crossed her mind.

“We’re not married,” she noted with apparent shock and horror.

“Well, no, not yet,” Wolf agreed, wondering at her expression. “But we can do that later...”

“No,” she shook her head fiercely. “No, we should’ve done it before, we should have... should’ve thought about it. Our baby is gonna be born a... well, without married parents, and that’s no way for a fairytale to work out,” she said definitely.

“I think you’re aiming a little high there, honey,” said a nurse as she checked Virginia’s vitals. “Life ain’t exactly a fairytale for anybody. Y’know a lot of kids are born before their folks are married. Be happy the guy stuck around this long at least.”

She didn’t understand, she couldn’t possibly. This nurse knew nothing of the world Wolf came from, those that Virginia had seen. The two of them did expect a story book ending. To be happy ever after was possible, if you just wanted it badly enough. When the poor woman in labour screamed through another contraction, gripping her fiancé’s hand til it felt as if the bones would break, he had an idea. Wolf could not ease the physical pain of this experience for Virginia, but he could help the ache in her heart.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised, literally bounding from the room.

Wolf fell headlong into Tony who looked panicked.

“Is something wrong?” he asked after his daughter with worry evident in his eyes and tone.

“Yes and no,” said Wolf, scratching his temple. “Where can I find a person who could marry myself to your beautiful succulent daughter?”

“Marry...? Now?” asked Tony, eyes comically wide. “She’s in labour for crying out loud!”

“And time is running out fast!” Wolf insisted, as if the older man had just made his point for him. “Who do I need and where do I find this person?”

“Well, er, you’d need a priest or a minister,” said Tony thoughtfully. “I guess they should have one in the hospital for when people are...”

“Where, exactly?” his soon-to-be son-in-law asked desperately, bouncing up and down with too much energy.

“I could help you look,” offered Marla with a kind smile. “Then Tony could sit with Virginia, and she won’t be left alone.”

“Excellent plan!” Wolf agreed with almost too much enthusiasm.

He and Marla went rushing off down the corridor, and Tony watched them a moment, before turning to look in through the glass at his little girl. His hand stilled on the door when he tried to go in. This wasn’t a job for him. Christine ought to be here, holding their little girl’s hand, sympathising with a pain she would have understood.

“Pull it together, Lewis,” he told himself then as Virginia groaned with agony once again.

Pushing open the door, he strode in with a purpose, grabbing up his little girl’s hand in both of his.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he greeted her with a smile that didn’t quite happen. “Er... Wolf and Marla have gone to find a minister,” he told her.

“Good,” she nodded breathlessly. “That’s good. I’m so glad you’re here Daddy,” she told him then, her smile genuine even through the mist of agony.

Tony never felt so good in his whole life, he was sure. Maybe once, he thought then, but that was over twenty years ago and also in a hospital. When he first held baby Virginia in his arms and she had reached out to him, grabbing his finger in her whole tiny fist and squeezing like she never wanted to let go. Now she was about to have a baby of her own. It was unbelievable and amazing and beautiful all at the same time, and he couldn’t be more proud of her.

“Virginia!” Wolf came hollering down the corridor and busting through the doors like a man possessed. “Oh, love of my life, I found the one we were looking for!” he told her with a grin.

The poor flustered minister looked bemused at best to have been flung into a delivery room. Perhaps the only person more put out by the whole spectacle was the doctor who arrived a moment later to find the place that ought to contain only an expectant mother, father, and a nurse, to be overflowing.

It took Virginia screaming over all other voices to get the attention back on her when all the chattering and arguing started up. Her ardent wish to be married before she gave birth was what the doctor focused on. After checking her over he declared the baby would not be in a position for pushing to begin just yet, and asked the minister to make the ceremony as short as possible, just to get it done.

“You know, it won’t be exactly legal...” the clergyman whispered to the doctor.

“I don’t think that will matter,” he assured him. “I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Just the ceremony for her peace of mind will be enough,” he nodded knowingly.

Virginia concentrated only on breathing as Wolf perched on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his own. Tony and Marla hovered on the other side, to bear witness to the marriage, as brief and awkward as it was.

The minister spoke quickly, mindful of the situation. Wolf and Virginia both said their I do’s and some hurriedly declared vows, as he placed her ring back onto her finger and a kiss was called for. It was miraculous how the contractions that had come with regularity every two to three minutes seemed to have ceased altogether for the last ten. Tony’s watch beeped midnight just as the happy couple broke their kiss, and suddenly whatever magic had held off the pain gave way with a scream from Virginia.

“Right on time,” Marla sighed, winking at her partner when he glanced her way.

He didn’t question what she had done, he was only grateful for it, and proved as such with a kiss. They left a moment later, promising they would only be in the waiting area down the hall. Both grandpa-to-be and his girlfriend wanted to know the moment the baby was born.

“Why does this have to hurt so much?” asked Virginia desperately.

“It’s just nature’s way,” said Wolf sagely. “There’s always pain and suffering before the happy ending. It’s what makes it worth having, I guess,” he shrugged, wincing right after as another contraction meant his new wife gripped his hand like a vice.

“I’m glad you’re here, I’m glad we’re married,” she told him, breathless and shaking. “I love you so much,” she promised, all earlier arguments and threats having melted away as if they were nothing.

“I love you more than anything else in the whole of the ten kingdoms,” he promised her in return. “Mrs Virginia Wolfson,” he smirked at the sound of the name he would always adore, glad to see her at least attempt a smile of her own.

Concentration soon shifted back to the matter at hand. Another half an hour of pushing and crying; in so many ways Virginia was lucky. The wish she had made almost nine months ago was holding true, the labour as easy as such a thing could be. Though it was impossible for her not to suffer through such an ordeal, there were no complications and little cub was born swiftly, screaming even louder than his mother as he emerged into the world.

Wolf didn’t know where to turn first. He wanted to hug and kiss Virginia promising her she was the most wonderful woman in the world. He wanted to see his baby, his son, his perfect little cub. He wanted to rush out into the hallway to find Tony and Marla to tell them the good news. Trying to do all three at once almost caused an accident, but somehow he managed it!

All at once he was back at Virginia’s side, one arm wrapped around her and the other around the baby she held close. Their perfect wolf cub baby boy.

“He’s so tiny,” she sighed happily. “But he already looks like you” she declared, glancing up into Wolf’s eyes.

“Of course, a handsome chap, just like I said he would be,” he declared with a grin. “This is where it truly begins,” he said then, dropping a kiss on the top of Virginia’s head. “Our happily ever after.”


	9. A Night's Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten months post-series - Wolf, Virginia, and baby makes three!

Virginia turned over and found an empty space in the bed beside her. She opened her eyes quickly but no other part of her body moved. She was so tired, beyond tired in fact. Bringing up a baby was certainly the hard work everyone promised it would be, even with Wolf, her Dad, and Marla all here to help. Just about a month into her son’s life, and Virginia was so exhausted. She felt just terrible that she had probably slept through his crying for her, and worse when she glanced towards the window and spotted a full moon shining between the curtains. She had forgotten that too.

Rolling out of bed, Virginia reached for her robe and pulled it on. She was still tying it around her as she padded through to the next bedroom, past her Dad and Marla asleep in the camp bed right across the living area. She said nothing and made no sound, just stopped in her door way to her son’s room and smiled.

Wolf was holding Caleb, their little cub, sitting on the ledge by the window. The pair of them were bathed in moonlight, and he spoke softly to the baby, telling him tales of the world Daddy was from.

“...and even though the princess didn’t understand the land of magic and trolls and handsomely dashing Wolf-men, she never gave up, she kept on going. The princess and the Wolf went through many trials... oh, and Grandpa Tony and the Prince dog were there too, but that’s not so important.”

The aside in the tale made Virginia laugh, though she tried to cover the giggling with her hand. Wolf turned slowly to look at her then, as if annoyed at the interruption, but his eyes sparkled with fun.

“I’m sorry,” she apologised in a whisper as she crept further into the room.

“I already knew you were there,” he reminded her, tapping his nose that smelt her no matter what. “I was just telling our cub how his beautiful, delicious mother fell in love with his handsome, brave father,” he explained. “He needs to know these things,” he said, entirely seriously, as Virginia joined him on the window sill.

“I agree,” she nodded once, putting her hand gently to the baby’s head, which was already thick with dark hair. “I’m just wondering why you started a once upon a time tale so late at night?” she checked, eyes drifting to the dark sky beyond the window and making her question pointless.

Wolf rarely slept on the night of the full moon, he just had far too much energy to bear to be still. They had shared nights of passion before, but Virginia hardly had the energy now. In any case, Wolf seemed content to spend his time with their cub tonight, maybe just because they were both of the same kind. This tiny child would be effected by the moon too, just as his father was. He was a half-wolf, or maybe a quarter-wolf, Virginia still wasn’t sure she understood the science of it all. In any case, he was as much the cub that Wolf called him as he was a baby. The full moon would mean something to him, effect him in ways as yet unknown. For now, he seemed pretty calm, but Virginia had a feeling that had more to do with the man holding him than anything else.

“He’s so quiet now,” she sighed. “I feel awful that I didn’t wake up when he cried.”

“Oh, he didn’t cry, did you, Cub?” he addressed the baby even though he obviously wouldn’t answer, dropping a light kiss on his tiny forehead. “No, I just couldn’t sleep, and I sensed he was awake too. What better night for father-son bonding time?” he shrugged easily.

Virginia nodded absently that she understood, but she didn’t look exactly thrilled about it. Of course she wanted her husband and child to bond. They were father and son as he said, and they should be close. Still, Virginia couldn’t help but feel a little left out of things. She wasn’t like them, not a half-wolf. She showed vague signs of behaving like one when she was carrying their part-lupine child, but no more. Virginia could never truly understand what it was to be like them, to be drawn to the moon, to feel what they felt about it. It would only increase when their cub grew older, developed his tail and learnt what he truly was.

“Hey,” said Wolf, holding the baby close in one arm and reaching out his other hand to her face. “Are you okay?” he checked, looking too worried.

“I’m fine,” she promised, leaning her cheek into his gentle touch. “Honestly, I’m just... I’m tired, and I guess, well... Okay, so I’m a little jealous,” she admitted, rolling her eyes at what she knew to be her own stupidity. “You and Caleb, you’re going to be so close, so bonded over the moon and what it is to be a wolfie and all,” she shrugged. “I guess I just feel like the odd one out.”

“No. Oh, no!” said Wolf definitely, perhaps slightly too loud as the baby stirred in his arms.

In the living room, Tony turned over on the creaky camp bed that groaned under the shifting weight.

“Virginia, you’re not odd,” Wolf told her in more hushed tones then. “You’re extraordinary. You are my beautiful, succulent, extraordinary wife, and I love you,” he promised her sincerely.

She had to smile at that, she couldn’t help it, though her eyes also welled up with tears. He said some beautiful things sometimes and she never did doubt that he meant them. Wolves mated for life, he had told her that several times. A commitment from so many men could seem flimsy at best, but not from him. Virginia’s instincts told her to trust him. For the first time in her life, she had faith in somebody and she knew she wasn’t wrong.

“I love you too,” she whispered, leaning in over their baby to kiss his lips. “That still doesn’t make me the same as you two.”

“You forget, our cub isn’t all me, he’s half you too,” Wolf told her with a look. “He will grow up to be as brave and remarkable as his mother as well as his father,” he nodded sagely.

Virginia smiled, the happy expression giving way to a yawn that she couldn’t help, as she looked down at Caleb. They had named him deliberately so that Cub wouldn’t seem like an odd nickname. Besides, Virginia had discovered Caleb came from the Hebrew for dog - she saw that name as a link to Wendell as much as anything. A tribute to the man/dog that had brought her and Wolf together in the first place.

Now baby Caleb started fussing again and Virginia sighed.

“Why don’t you bring him back to our bed and tell him your stories there?” she suggested, standing up and encouraging him to do the same. “I like to hear them too.”

“But you already know the tale of how we met, sweet Virginia. You were very much there,” he told her pointlessly.

“Then tell a different story,” she suggested as they crept back to their own bedroom and silently closed the door. “One about you. Your past or your family. I like those,” she admitted as she lay down beside him on the bed.

Wolf got comfortable on his back with his little cub laid on his chest and Virginia pulled into his side.

“Hmm, a story about the most courageous Wolf in all the ten kingdoms,” he considered, making his wife giggle. “So many to choose from, where do I start?”

“At the beginning?” Virginia sighed sleepily. “With once upon a time?”

“Okay,” he agreed, kissing the top of her head where it rested at his shoulder. “Once upon a time there was a family of wolves who lived on the edge of the forest. There was a mother wolf, a father wolf, and five little cubs...”

Virginia and Caleb were both asleep before Wolf’s story hardly started, but that didn’t matter. He would tell it many times, and she would learn, as their cub did, about the land that Wolf came from, all his childhood adventures, his life story up until he met his darling Virginia. Tonight he barely got into the tale before everyone was asleep, including Wolf himself. Everybody content in their happily ever after, for now.


	10. On A Night Like This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year since they returned to the 10th Kingdom, Virginia & Wolf consider how far they've come.

They had been sitting on the bridge for a full half hour just looking out at the New York skyline. It was hard for Virginia to believe that she was this genuinely happy, that things were finally working out for her. It was true that this was not the future she had planned for herself, if she had any plans at all. A little over a year ago, she had been a normal girl with a boring waitressing job, just living to make ends meet. Her father a poor janitor that hated his life, her mother was long gone, and there was no man on the horizon at all. Things were so very different now.

The breeze blew lightly, ruffling the fabric of Virginia’s long white dress. It was the very same one she had worn in the 4th Kingdom, the day Wolf asked her to put on the singing engagement ring. Now they were married for real, making official what wasn’t quite so in the hospital three months before. It had been a simple ceremony, just the two of them, Caleb, Tony, and Marla. It was all they needed.

Virginia sighed and leant her head on her husband’s shoulder. She was officially Mrs Wolfson now, and the thought of it made her giggle uncontrollably.

“What has you so amused, Mrs Wolf?” her husband teased her, nudging her head off his shoulder so he could see her face.

“Nothing really,” she sighed as she met his eyes. “I’m just so happy.”

“Me too,” he agreed with a nod, leaning in to kiss her lips.

Perhaps Virginia thought she was the only one surprised by the way her future had turned out, but Wolf could say the same. A little over a year ago now, he was locked up in a jail cell at the Snow White Memorial Prison. He was a criminal, without family or friends, with nothing to live for in so many ways. Then he met an evil queen, followed by a beautiful princess. Now here he was, a husband and a father, in a whole new world he never even knew existed. The mythical 10th Kingdom had handed him some kind of dream life, despite the fact it was the only world to possess no actual magic at all.

“A whole year,” said Virginia, looking up at the night sky full of sparkling stars. “Can you believe it? A whole year since we stepped through the magic mirror and came home.”

“I believe it,” Wolf replied, squeezing her hand that he had been holding the whole time and never wanted to let go. “I can’t understand how my destiny led me here, how I could really deserve all this but... but I believe it, and I’ve never, ever been happier, Virginia,” he promised her, a hand at her cheek turning her back to look at him.

They were kissing again in a moment, the world falling away as they did so. This was their time, just for a little while. Tony and Marla’s visit was supposed to be over and it was difficult to extend. As it was, getting a slot at City Hall for the wedding was trickier than expected and it was today, on the older couple’s last whole day in the 10th Kingdom, that they managed to do it. The mirror was only activated on set days and times, they would have to go back in the morning, there was no choice on that. For tonight, that didn’t matter. Tony and Marla were grandpa and grandma to Caleb, whilst Wolf and Virginia enjoyed a little alone time.

There had been talk of hotel rooms, fancy restaurants, all kinds of treats. Wolf had offered Virginia anything and anywhere she wanted, yet they had ended up here in Central Park. It was free and simple, and it meant everything to the couple. They had sat here together on their first night back in New York City. One year on, the first anniversary of their new beginning, it seemed the perfect place to be.

A beeping at Wolf’s wrist broke him away from kissing his wife at last. The digital watch she had bought him for his birthday proclaimed it was midnight. Virginia gasped in a much needed breath, then shivered involuntarily as the cool breeze passed through her thin dress.

“Its really late,” she noted. “We should find some place to stay tonight.”

Wolf nodded his agreement and they turned to step down off the bridge. Ever the gentleman, he took off his jacket, draping it around Virginia’s shoulders as she shivered again. They walked along with their arms around each other, headed down the path towards the entrance gates.

“Where do you wanna go?” he asked, already mentally calculating what they could afford.

Though magic had assisted in converting many of Tony’s gold Wendells to US dollars, and much of it given to his daughter as a gift, things still weren’t going to be easy for the new Mr & Mrs Wolfson. They had rent to pay, bills piling up, and a baby to raise. They had to be careful.

“Honestly?” said Virginia, looking up at him. “And I’m not just saying this because of the money,” she told him quickly, knowing he must already be thinking it. “The only place I really wanna be is in our bed, with our baby close by. Would that be okay?” she asked, as they stopped walking and turned to each other.

“Virginia, my deliciously scrumptious wife,” he said, holding her close. “That is the best idea I ever heard,” he assured her.

The couple shared a kiss, and then with hands joined, broke out into a run. Out of the gates to Central Park, dodging traffic to get across the street. They pelted down the sidewalk, laughing like silly kids as they headed for home.

Wolf picked Virginia up off the kerb and spun her into their building. They kissed like teens on a first date until the elevator came, and continued to enjoy each other on the way up to the apartment, almost not realising when the doors opened on their floor. A neighbour clearing their throat soon alerted them.

“Home sweet home,” said Wolf with a grin as he unlocked the door, sweeping Virginia up into his arms and carrying her over the threshold, such was the tradition.

“Put me down,” she hissed through a fit of giggles, desperate not to wake her baby who she knew would be sleeping.

“What are you two doing here?” asked Tony suddenly, disentangling himself from Marla.

Both of them had messed up hair, clothes out of place, and he was wearing half of his girlfriends lipstick. The younger couple pretended not to notice.

“We decided there was no place we’d rather be than here,” Virginia said definitely, as Wolf finally put her down.

She rushed to her father hugging him tight before he could even get up off the couch.

“I love you, Daddy,” she assured him. “I’m so happy for you, that you have this great life in the 4th Kingdom with Marla,” she smiled widely as she pulled away.

“We’re happy for you too,” the older woman assured her when Tony seemed dumbstruck.

‘Is she drunk?’ he mouthed to Wolf as Virginia headed for Caleb’s room and he made to follow.

“Only on her love for me,” he smirked, unable to help it.

The young couple poked their heads around the door of their little cub’s room. He was sound asleep and they had no wish to disturb him, but couldn’t resist a peek into the crib.

“You were right, you know?” whispered Virginia, curling in under Wolf’s arm and resting her head on his chest.

“I’m sure I was,” he agreed in a similarly quite voice, “But about what?” he checked, making her smile.

“Everything,” she admitted. “That we were destined to be together. That you could make me happy. That there was a little furry chap on the way,” she smiled up at him.

“Of course I was right,” he rolled his eyes. “Wolves know these things,” he told her, rubbing his nose on her own.

“Well, I’ve learnt from the best wolf there is,” she replied, holding him close. “And I know that we’re going to be happy together for a long time yet. This is just the beginning.”

Moments later, he was carrying her to bed, his dreamy, creamy girl that had now become his wife. She laid down with her crazy insatiable wolf-man, her much-loved husband, and knew this was what she had been looking for her whole life.

All their happiness was here in this apartment, a little place on the edge of the forest. They could easily live happily ever after here, and neither Wolf nor Virginia doubted for a moment that they would.


End file.
